Perfection
by Silent Scribe
Summary: Whoever said naming a baby was easy? Inu no Taisho is in for a shock and much more than he expected. This just might be the Dog General's very own Mission Impossible.


**Perfection**

In the evening's blistering winter cold, even the guards of the celestial palace huddled close. Still, it wasn't just to the biting frost that took credit for the shivers in their spines. From the open-aired halls of the east wing, the most pained groans could be heard riding high on the wind. Their liege was distressed in the extremity. Something tremendous would come about tonight.

The Great Dog-Demon snarled, slamming down a heavy, ironclad foot. Again the wooden panels creaked under his weight, emitting another terrible moan. He stalked back down the corridor. His breath clouded in small puffs before him in time with every stomp. Reaching the end, he whirled about-face and marched back.

The wooden floors had been freshly waxed that morning, but tonight the maids would have wept to see that their efforts had been for naught. The scuff marks were back anew and tenfold by the time Inu no Taisho had stopped pacing across the panels.

Seizing the break, a little voice at the daiyokai's shoulder piped up. "Perhaps seated my lord would better collect himself?" The master needed to calm down.

"What's taking so long?" thundered the Dog General, completely ignoring his vassal in all but a slap.

So much for calming him down. Myoga popped back into a three-dimensional form. "The child's head is big."

"That's supposed to happen later in life!" he bellowed. "What if something's going wrong right now? Then what?"

"Well, there's nothing you can do about it." Myoga instantly regretted his words. He soon found himself held between the thumb and forefinger claws of Inu no Taisho. The pressure betwixt the talons was gentle, delicate, dangerous.

"I know I am powerless to help." The dog-demon's voice was silk, only more disconcerting because Myoga could hear the razors laced into it; they glinted in his amber eyes as well.

"Wh-what I meant, my lord," the flea stammered, "is that the Lady has a healthy constitution. Surely she'll survive this ordeal. It's natural. She'll be fine. If Your Grace would release me, I could go in and –"

Suddenly a fresh wail pierced the night's stillness. Tossing Myoga and his reservations aside, the Dog General crashed into the birthing chamber, dread twisting his face at the limpid form of his spouse.

Her eyes fluttered and she moaned quietly. Alive.

But weak.

"Where…?" she mumbled.

Roughly pushing past the midwife, he stumbled over to his lady."Right beside you."

"Not you," she snapped. "The kid."

"Hn?" Inu no Taisho cocked his head in bewilderment. Then looked from side to side for the infant.

The spurred midwife from a moment ago stepped forward. "Sire," she drawled, not attempting to hide her vexation. "Congratulations. It's a boy."

He snatched up the bundle of swaddling cloth. Then grumbled awkwardly in an afterthought, "Er, thanks." He never liked Ira as a choice for a bedside nurse. He loathed her now. The daiyokai glanced down at the baby to make sure she hadn't taken a bite out of him or anything. In one piece, the newborn stared back up at him; he'd stopped crying a while ago. Such a quick command of life so soon. Dismissing his father, the baby stuck his thumb back in his mouth, closed his eyes, and curled up. Inu no Taisho turned back to his wife. "All right, he's here. Now what? What do you need? Is there anything I – "

"Name him."

For the second time in one night, the Western Lord was surprised. "I? But I thought you had already chosen a fitting…"

"Forgot it." The demoness rolled languidly to her side. "I need rest. Name him." Then she was out. No parade of all the empire's drummers would rouse her from this healing sleep.

His relief that she was alive now simmered to irritation. He didn't know the first thing about naming children, much less his own.

A second nurse spoke up. "My lord, mayhap I suggest…"

"No." The automatic response surprised Inu no Taisho himself. But the child was his. His arms were the ones wrapped protectively around the baby. His. "I shall name him."

He passed the bundle back for only a moment to remove the bulk of his armor. Then, Inu no Taisho cradled the new one again.

_What to name… _

He stared at the round, red little face and peaking hands grasping, clutching from the sides for a full minute. "Lobster."

The nurse maids looked up in bemusement.

"Nothing," he mumbled sheepishly and turned his back to them.

The newborn gurgled in his father's gusty sigh. He blinked liquid amber eyes curiously. What was wrong?

_A name, a name, what the hell's in a name?_

Inu no Taisho shifted his weight from one foot, then to the other…and back again. He took one step in one direction, then another in the opposite. Then a few more steps; back and forth, back and forth.

"My lord is pacing," observed the bolder of the ladies, Ira of course.

Damn, they were watching him. He could feel their eyes on his back. Growling softly, he tramped outside, back to the outdoor hall where he'd been waiting. The Dog General trained his eyes on the falling snow, the small flurries that kicked up in wind. He looked down into his arms.

_Well, you are a winter child. _

The light blue that reflected off the snow in the moonlight was the same color as the infant's hair. Then the little bundle in his arms sneezed, wriggled, and tried to burrow deeper away from the cold.

_So much for that idea._

Inu no Taisho groaned wearily. This was taking too long.

The baby sniffled again, he didn't like the cold. He wasn't whimpering or crying, but his eyes were open once more. They stood locked on his father. When the Great Dog-Demon noticed it was a look he didn't appreciate.

"Are you threatening me?"

The infant sneezed. And fixed his gaze above once more. He wanted _in_.

Inu no Taisho didn't want to go back inside. He couldn't think with those harpies around.

His boy whimpered. "Oh, hush, you."

The baby didn't. He let loose.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! AWAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Gods! What in all the worlds was that noise?! Inu no Taisho held the shrieking demon at arm's length, but it just screamed louder, sending waves of pain to wrack the Dog General's sensitive ears.

Now he really couldn't think. The infant in one arm, he barreled down the corridor, groping along the wall for an entrance. Anything to get inside and make that wretched caterwauling _stop._

Finally, he felt a screen's catch and, just short of tearing it off, slid it open. Closing the entrance, he exhaled slowly. With the next breath, his nose told him exactly how familiar the surroundings were. Ironic they should be in his favorite room. Inu no Taisho could smell the musky old maps and tang of metal from the swords that decorated his personal strategy quarters. For the first time all night, he was at ease. And the screaming had ceased. "There? Happy now?" he grumbled.

Two big, yellow orbs glowed delightedly back at him.

"Brat," Inu no Taisho muttered. "That should be your name." He jostled the little load some more until it gurgled happily. Perhaps he should've just given the boy back to the nurse. Who was he to be a father? He commanded armies, he didn't coddle babies.

Little No-Name in his arms cooed again. Right. Mission still incomplete.

Although he could see perfectly well in the dark, Inu no Taisho called up his pure yoki to light up a candle anyway. Darkness stole color and right now, if he had to sit and think of a name for his son, he wanted to see every hue and blush that colored the little one's face. He had to get this task done. If the boy didn't like it, he could always change it later in life.

The baby blinked, a long, slow sweep of lashes.

The Dog General flinched, feeling more obligated than ever to find a suitable title for this offspring of his.

"All right," he sighed, rocking back on haunches until he plunked on his favorite pillow.

Now, he took a good long look at the baby. There were two faint magenta stripes forming along his cheeks. That wasn't quite like him or the boy's mother. He had his own individual daiyokai stamp.

"Heh," the Western Lord smirked when the infant was fully aware he was being scrutinized. He bore the familial stamp, though: gold and silver. Then, Inu no Taisho noticed something. Between tufts of light silver hair, there peeked the formation of a perfect azure circle. His mother had but a crescent, this one looked finished.

"A perfect circle." He extended a gentle claw to see the rest. Then stopped. The circle was incomplete. It was only an arc, a crescent. "A perfect circle partially destroyed." The daiyokai's soft chuckle reverberated through his chest. The little baby curled closer.

The destruction of perfection, of a circle, how interesting. To break the circle of life or the natural chain of things. Was that possible? One needed great power for that. Inheriting was a given; the child had the lineage of the finest of demon blood. But did Inu no Taisho believe his son could master it?

Little fingers had wrapped determinedly around the Dog General's finger. He bent to kiss his infant tenderly on the head. Slowly realizing he was suited for the job of father, the Inu no Taisho answered his own question. "Absolutely." The moment couldn't be more perfect; he had a name. There was only one thing left to do; greet the little one already.

"Welcome to the world, Sesshomaru."

--

_A/N: I'm not sure why, maybe it's his uptight attitude, but Sesshomaru strikes me as a Capricorn. That or an Aries. I needed a "birthday" fic for two years here on , so this was it. Thanks to every reader for being such a great audience. Like always critique and reviews in general are appreciated._


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